Facsimile apparatus



Nov. 24, 1959 R. G. STEMP ETAL FACSIMILE APPARATUS Filed Dec. 19, 1957 MH (0Y0 15% Inventor R G. STE/VP A tto'me y UnitedStates Patent M FACSllVIILE APPARATUS Ronald Gilbert Stemp and Martin Herbert Lloyd, Croydon, England, assignors to Creed & Company Limited, Croydon, England, a British company Application December 19, 1957, Serial No. 703,907

Claims priority, application Great Britain January 14, 1957 6 Claims. (Cl. 346-139) This invention relates to facsimile apparatus, and more particularly to such apparatus employing ink recording on plain paper.

The recording of messages transmitted over a facsimile communication system has previously been most effectively carried out using an electrosensitive recording paper. This electrosensitive recording paper is expensive and therefore efiorts have been made to overcome the difficulties of recording with ink on plain paper of which the main problem is to get the ink to flow evenly without either flooding or drying up. It has recently been proposed to use a conventional ball-point writing device, eg a refill, as a stylus and to arrange for this to be moved into and out of contact with the paper in accordance with received facsimile signals.

The movement of the ball-point pen refill to and from a Writing position is carried out by means which will be generically referred to as an electric relay which may take the form of for example, a piezo-electric de vice or an electromagnet, polarized or unpolarized.

A movement into the writing position and back again to the non-writing position, must be executed in a time of the order of one thousandth of a second. In order to obtain such speeds it is necessary for the inertia of the armature and the device holding the stylus to the armature to be as small as possible.

On account of the limited amount of ink which can be accommodated in a conventional ball-point pen refill, and on account of the wear which takes place to the ball and its seating, it is necessary for the refill to be replaced at intervals by the operator of the machine without the assistance of a mechanic. It is an object of the present invention to provide a holding device from which a ball-point writing device may be removed and into which a fresh refill may be inserted in correct correlation with the relay armature by an operator without deranging it.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are schematic only and in which:

Fig. 1 shows a side-view of a device for holding the ball-point pen refill in an enclosure, one wall of the enclosure having been removed.

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged plan view of a portion of Fig. 1,.and

Figs. 3 and 4 show a mechanism suitable for use with the device of Fig. 1 for locating the position of the armature of the electric motor when the refill is being changed.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a relay 1 has an armature 2 which terminates in a jaw 3. Slidably supported by the armature 2 is a sleeve-like member 4 carrying an extension in the form of a jaw 5 which forms, with jaw 3, a pair of jaws. The contours of the jaws 3 and 5 are of any shape that is suitable for gripping a standard ball-point pen refill 10. The sleeve member 4 carries, at the opposite end to the jaw 5, a flange 6. A pin 7, located in the armature 2, provides a support for a 2,914,372 Patented Nov. 24, 1959 2 washer 8 which is pressed against it by a spring 9. Spring 9 surrounds the sleeve member 4 and is in compression between the flange 6 and the washer 8. The spring 9 therefore urges the sleeve member 4 along the armature 2, so that the jaw 5 approaches the jaw 3 and the jaws 3 and 5 hold the ball-pen refill 10.

A swinging member 11, pivoted at 12 is provided in a position to be moved against the flange 6, and thereby to compress the spring 9 and move the sleeve member 4 and the jaw 5 to release the ball-pen refill 10. The ball-pen refill 10 is enclosed for a considerable portion of its length by a guide tube 13, which is clear of the refill 10 when the latter is gripped by the jaws 3 and 5, but which is able to support the refill 10 in a position close to that in which it is gripped, even when it has been released from the jaws 3 and 5.

The whole of the mechanism so far described is enclosed within a protective wall 14, which prevents the operator from touching it. The aperture described by the upper edge of the wall 14 is closed by a lid 15, hinged at 19, while the lower edge is close to a rotatable drum 16, around which a sheet of plain recording paper may be placed.

A member 17 is pivotally connected to both the hinged lid 15 and a member 18, the other end of which is connected to the pivot 12. This linkage of members 17 and 18 is such that a raising of the lid 15 causes the pivot 12 to turn and bring the swinging member 11 into contact with flange 6 to compress the spring 9. The jaw 5 is thereby moved in the direction away from jaw 3. When the lid 15 is fully opened, the jaws 3 and 5 cease to grip the ball-pen refill 10 which is then only supported by the guide tube 13. The ball-pen refill 10 projects beyond the upper end of the guide tube 13 (as shown in Fig. 1), and is grapsed by the operator and withdrawn. A new ball-pen refill is then inserted into the guide tube 13 and allowed to fall under gravity through the open jaws 3 and 5 until it rests against the drum 16 or a recording paper thereon. The lid 15 is finally closed with the result that jaw 5 moves back towards jaw 3 as spring 9 is allowed to expand, and the jaws 3 and 5 grasp the new ball-pen refill 10.

It will be appreciated that although the jaw 5 has been described here as carried by a member 4 which slides on the armature 2, it might well be carried, for example, by a member pivoted on the armature 2, a spring being provided to urge the two jaws together to grip the refill 10.

In order that the correct correlation of the ball-pen refill 10 and the relay armature 2 for recording may be ensured, it is necessary for the positions of both pen refill 10 and armature 2 to be predetermined when the jaws 3 and 5 close to grip the fresh refill 10. The position of the pen refill 10 is determined by the fact that it falls under gravity so that the writing point is in contact with the surface either of the recording paper on the drum 16 or of the drum 16 itself. The position of the armature 2 is determined by the mechanism shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The armature-locating mechanism is shown separate from the rest of the apparatus for clarity. Normally it would be included inside the compartment defined by wall 14. Fig. 4 shows this mechanism from the same angle as the rest of the apparatus is shown in Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a View of Fig. 4 taken from the right. Link 20 (Figs. 3 and 4) is pivotally attached to lid 15 and also to an armature-locating member 21 which is pivoted at 22. Therefore, as the lid 15 is raised, the armaturelocating member 21 is swung about its pivot 22 so that one or the other of the shaped faces 24 on either side of the slot 23 engages the armature 2 and urges it by a cam-like action into a predetermined position in slot 23.

This predetermined position of the armature is preferably chosen to be near its writing position but not exactly in that position, so that, when the armature 2 does adopt its writing position during operation of thefacsimile recorde the ball-pen refill it will be pressed into contact with the recording paper on drum to. The advantage of this is two-fold. First, the refill ill writes better when it is pressed into contact with the recording paper instead of just resting on it, and secondly a carbon copy of the recorded message may be made during the actual recording. Further, if a carbon copy of-the received message is habitually made, there will be one complete copy of the message, even if the ink-flow from the ballpen refill 19 should fail during the recording.

The engagement of the armature 2 by the armaturelocating member 21 is arranged to take place in the first part of the raising of lid is. The ball-pen refill it is completely released from the jaws 3 and 5 only at a later stage in the opening of lid 15. in this way it is ensured that, when a new refill in has been inserted, the closing of the lid 15 effects clamping of the refill 10 in the jaws 3 and 5 before the disengagement of the armature 2 from the armature-locating member 21.

it will be appreciated that the apparatus described may be modified without departing from the invention. For example, instead of being'movable about a pivot to engage the armature 2, the armature-locating member 21. might be movable along a slide to and from its operating position, the movement along the slide being controlled by the raising and lowering of the lid 15.

While the principles of the invention have been described above in connection with specific embodiments, and particular modifications thereof, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of the invention.

What we claim is:

1. Facsimile recording apparatus comprising an electric relay having an armature movable in response to received signals, clamp means mounted on said armature for holding a ball-point writing device, releasing means for causing said clamp means to release its hold on a writing device therein, and positioning means connected to said releasing means for locating said armature in a predetermined position when said clamp means releases said writing device.

2. Facsimile recording apparatus comprising an electric relay having an armature movable in response to received signals, a first jaw fixed to said armature, a second jaw fixed to a member carried by said armature and movable in relation thereto, spring means urging said member to move in a direction toward said second jaw, releasing means for moving said member against the action of said spring means, and positioning means connected to said releasing means for locating said armature in a predetermined position when said releasing means moves said member.

3. Facsimile recording apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which said member comprises a sleeve arranged to slide on said armature.

4. Facsimile recording apparatus as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a wall forming an enclosure around said first and second jaws, said spring means, said releasing means and said positioning means, a pivoted lid co-vering said enclosure, first means operable on raising said lid and connected thereto for causing said positioning means to locate said armature, and a second means operable on raising said lid and connected thereto for operating said releasing means subsequent to the operation of said first means.

5. Facsimile recording apparatus as claimed in claim 4, in which said positioning means comprises a first member movable about a pivot and having faces shaped for guiding said armature to a given position in relation thereto.

6. Facsimile recording apparatus as claimed in claim 4, in which said releasing means is pivotally mounted.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,630,296 Heech May 31, 1927 1,651,102 Peiseler Nov. 29, 1927 2,694,615 Clements Nov. 16, 1954 2,704,936 Vine et a1 Mar. 29, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 744,638 Great Britain Feb. 8, 1956 

